Copper resistance in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri: functional studies on proteins related to the mechanism

• Grant number: 05/04036-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2006
• End date: July 31, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Celia Bertolini
• Grantee: Maria Celia Bertolini
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The main proposal of the project is to study the copper resistance mechanism in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri by the molecular characterization of some genes and proteins. Copper resistance in phytopathogenic bacteria results form the continuous use of copper-containing compounds that have been sprayed in crops. In this project we will be focusing on the copA, copB, and cutC genes, which have been described in different phytopathogenic bacteria as potentially involved in the copper resistance mechanism. Recent results from our laboratory have shown that the copA and copB genes are organized in an operon (copAB), and that gene transcription is induced in the presence of copper and specific to copper. The studies are related to the following aspects: the characterization of the promoter region of the operon in order to determine the regions involved in the transcription control, the characterization of the interaction between bacteria-plant by using a mutant bacteria strain in which the copA gene was inactivated by transposon, the identification of proteins induced/repressed in the presence of copper, and the characterization of the proteins that interact with the target proteins of the project (CopA, CopB, and CutC). (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE FREITAS, ELIANE CRISTINA; UCCI, AMANDA PIOVESAN; TEIXEIRA, ELAINE CRISTINA; PEDROSO, GISELE AUDREI; HILARIO, EDUARDO; BERTOLAZZI ZOCCA, VITORIA FERNANDA; DE PAIVA, GABRIELA BARBOSA; FERREIRA, HENRIQUE; PEDROLLI, DANIELLE BISCARO; BERTOLINI, MARIA CELIA. The copper-inducible copAB operon in Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri is regulated at transcriptional and translational levels. MICROBIOLOGY-SGM, v. 165, n. 3, p. 355-365, MAR 2019. (05/04036-3)